During-Treatment Outcomes Among Female Methamphetamine-Using Offenders in Prison-Based Treatment

• NCJ Number: 227875
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 48 Issue: 5 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 388-401
• Author(s): Grace A. Rowan-Szal; George W. Joe; D. Dwayne Simpson; Jack M. Greener; Jerry Vance
• Date Published: July 2009
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): R37 DA13093
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study evaluated the effect of treatment on 359 women methamphetamine-using offenders who were treated either in a modified therapeutic community called "Clean Lifestyle Is Freedom Forever" (CLIFF-TC), or the standard outpatient (OTP) treatment provided by the Indiana Department of Corrections.

Abstract

Both the CLIFF-TC and the traditional OTP treatments were found to improve treatment functioning among the women offenders, based on significant changes measured from intake to the end of the treatment phase. Specifically, measures of self-esteem, depression, anxiety, decisionmaking, hostility, risk-taking, and criminal-thinking errors all showed significant changes viewed as "critical to improvement"; however, when compared on the basis of effect sizes, treatment gains were larger in the CLIFF-TC than in the OTP group. Both groups rated treatment engagement measures of participation, satisfaction, and counselor rapport to be very high. These findings have positive implications for the management and improvement of the treatment of methamphetamine-using women offenders, because psychological improvement during treatment has been linked to better postrelease outcomes. All participants were assessed on motivation, psychological and social functioning, and treatment engagement before and during treatment. A multilevel repeated measures analysis examined change between intake and the end of phase two treatment. CLIFF-TC was developed and implemented in 2005 as a specialized treatment unit that focused on offenders with significant impairment due to methamphetamine or amphetamine abuse. It included a 6-9 months program that operated on a modified therapeutic community model. The CLIFF-TC program provided intensive services with a strong emphasis on impacting criminal-thinking errors and behaviors. OPT was "regular treatment" composed of three phases: education, primary treatment, and relapse prevention. 1 table and 39 references